New Lines at EC!

by Raelene Gorlinsky

Boy, sometimes we are just so busy here that we can't find a spare minute to blog. But we're busy for a reason - lots of new and exciting stuff going on. So let us tell you about one of those projects. EC is opening two new lines (genres) of erotic romance, aimed at specific niche markets. We are open to submissions immediately. To submit, please read the Author Information brochure available on our website at http://www.jasminejade.com/t-writerscircle.aspx .

GEN-EDGE

Audience: 18- to 25-year-old modern women who would enjoy reading sexually explicit erotic romance stories about heroines with whom they can identify.

Tone and Style: The books will have a strong narrative voice. Dialogue and narrative will be very reflective of the target audience’s world.

Heroine: Must be in the 18-25 range, with behavior and attitude to match. The heroine should reflect the lifestyles and values of today's modern young woman.

Hero: The hero doesn't have to fit into the same age range. He may indeed be of age similar to the heroine, part of her peer group. But we would also accept stories of young women involved with older men.

Character Traits: Heroines are more sexually aggressive and less worried about what people think of them. Sexual fluidity (manifesting in various ways—metrosexual men, bisexual heroes/heroines, acceptance of GLBT culture, lesbian flirtation) is more common, almost expected.

Younger characters tend to be politically aware, socially liberal, and accepting of differences. Their job is probably just a job, not a major commitment or the most important thing in their life. Career paths aren't part of their life plans yet. Self-employment and entrepreneurship may be their goals.

Technology is a big part of their lives—cell phones, laptops, everything online.
The language should be current and characters will have very casual speech patterns, often sarcastic.

BRANDED

Audience: This line is for women of any age who would, or perhaps already do, enjoy EC Romantica®, but who may feel guilty about that enjoyment because of a conflict with their personal belief that sex should not occur before or outside of marriage.

Setting: The culture must involve a legal and binding public commitment ceremony between the two people that includes the intent of permanence (“’til death do us part”) and monogamy.

Sexual Content: These are indeed erotic—but the actual sex does not occur until after marriage. The stories should be the same graphic level of sexual description and sexual language as EC’s existing lines. The only difference from other lines is that the relationship must be monogamous and heterosexual, and penetrative sex cannot occur until after marriage. Before marriage, there should be a strong focus on the buildup of sexual tension; heavy petting, even leading to orgasm, is fine. The stories can include most of our other sexual elements—after marriage, anything goes!

It could be the heroine, hero, or both who have a personal belief in no sex before marriage. The character’s personal belief may be based on various factors, might include because it is a part of their religion with which they agree. But these are not religious stories; the character motivations or actions don’t focus on religion. The decision to wait for sex is a personal choice of the characters and should in no way imply a judgment that other people are wrong or "bad" for making different choices.

The characters do not have to be virgins, although it is fine if one or both are. But it also works if there were prior marriages, previous sexual experience, even previous sexual promiscuity. That could, in fact, play into the woman's or man's desire to now wait on the sex until after a legal commitment.